Gary Lineker has revealed he decided to leave the BBC after a high-pressure episode during the 2012 London Olympics, where he found himself overwhelmed by the volume of medal winners appearing on his show.

The former Match of the Day presenter, who had spent over 20 years as the face of BBC football coverage, had never stepped outside the sport until he took on the role of anchoring Olympic broadcasts in 2012.

Lineker, now 65, recounted the incident on the The Rest Is Football podcast in 2024. He explained how he prepared extensively for the event, researching every potential medal winner in case they appeared on his show.

“I did the evening show [at London 2012] and what would happen was that people would win a medal, whether silver, gold or bronze and then there’d be a good chance that they’d be in the studio,” Lineker said.

“I’d come in very early in the morning, I’d watch every event and any time there was a medal winner, I’d do massive amounts of research on them. I’d find out what I could about their background, where they’re from, what their interests are, on the off chance that they might come into the studio.”

Team GB ultimately secured 65 medals at the London Games, including 29 golds, placing third behind the USA and China. Lineker said it took time for the medal rush to begin, but once it did, the studio became overwhelmed with guests.

“I remember sitting in the studio, and I was on my own. They’d keep coming back to me, and I’d have a guest with me. This one night, I had nine separate lots of guests. That might’ve been one individual, a pair, a four, and I think there was even a group of eight,” he said.

“At about the seventh guest, I was sitting there, and these four lads came in. They sit next to me, and I hear, ‘We’re coming to you in 30 seconds, Gary, we’re coming to you.’ Now, I’ve looked across at the floor manager, and I’ve gone, I’ve hid behind my hands and went, ‘Who the f*** are they?’

“I was about ten seconds away from interviewing them! I can’t remember who they were, but they wore helmets, and it was impossible. I was going, ‘Who are they?’ and people were shouting in my ear: ‘It’s the so-and-so team,’ and I managed to scramble my way. It was an amazing experience, but after that, I made the conscious decision to stick to football.”

Lineker worked for the BBC for nearly 30 years, beginning in the mid-90s. He took over as host of Match of the Day in 1999, a role he held for 26 years. In 2024, he confirmed he would step down as presenter at the end of the 2024/25 Premier League season.

Initially, he was set to continue with the BBC for their coverage of the 2026 World Cup. However, the broadcaster cut ties with him in May 2025 after he shared a controversial post on social media concerning the Israel-Gaza conflict that featured antisemitic imagery.